Ju Duoqi’s Vegetable Masterpieces,capolavori commestibili della cucina vegetale.

" Dà una certa emozione e che sorpresa vedere certe opere tra le piu amate della Storia dell'Arte ridotte a lattuga e patate, il circo Barnum del Web ècostantemente alla ricerca di curiosità,bizzarrie,stranezze da sottoporre all'internauta pigro ancora fermo alla fase anale,questa è una delle piu cliccate dopo l'opera di Salvator Dali e i surrealisti di mezzo mondo che si danno al trompe oeil fantastico,fantasy con volentieri qualche scivolata orror nelle notti di Halloween.
ma non lasciamoci ingannare dalla sorpresa,dietro questa pratica di Ju Duoqi's c'è dell'altro,di piu e sopratutto tanta ironia greve,sarcasmo sui "bisogni" delle anime candide, per essi l'arte per farsi notare deve rendersi alimentare,consumabile anche per assecondare il risentimento"cannibale"di chi si sente escluso,marginalizato dalla sua ignoranza e non si ferma qui anzi rincara la dose,"faccio dell'arte destinata a deperire nell'immediato se non la "consumate" ! Insomma un tipo alquanto vedicativo;godetevi le sue personalissime versioni di Vincent van Gogh, Pablo Picasso, Leonardo da Vinci, Andy Warhol’s Marylin Monroe.
Io personalmente ho scelto la zattera della Medusa."


Chinese artist Ju Duoqi puts a whole new meaning to ‘playing with your food,’ transforming ordinary vegetables into veggie replicas of legendary works of art by masters such as Vincent van Gogh, Pablo Picasso, Leonardo da Vinci, and Andy Warhol’s Marylin Monroe.

Picasso’s The Dream in tofu. Photo Bigpicturesphoto.com

Ju Duoqi’s kitchen is her studio, and vegetables are her paint. The 35-year-old artist uses boiled, dried, fried, and pickled vegetables, finishing with the fastest-rotting ingredients to create her masterpiece versions made entirely out of vegetables.
Her art breathes new life into ordinary vegetables, taking ‘green art’ to the extreme using everyday vegetables such as tofu, cabbage, ginger, lotus roots, coriander, and sweet potatoes.
Lumpy potatoes acquire expressive facial features, and radish roots, lettuce leaves, and cloves of garlic are transformed into Botticelli’s Venus.

The Birth Of Venus. Photo Paris-Beijing Gallery

The Birth Of Venus. Photo Bigpicturesphoto.com

Ju used cabbage and garlic for Warhol’s Marilyn Monroe. Photo Bigpicturesphoto.com

Sichuan-born Ju carefully slices and carves the veggies, and then assembles her works with toothpicks, taking up to 2 weeks to complete a single recreation of some of the world’s most famous works in photographs.
The former website and computer game designer turned artist has been creating about 2 vegetable sculptures a month since 2006.

Leonardo Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa recreated out of vegetables.
Photo Paris-Beijing Gallery

Eugene Delacroix’s Liberty Leading the People in a sweet potato.
Photo Bigpicturesphoto.com

Ju’s version of Vincent van Gogh’s self-portrait using cucumber and carrot.
Photo Bigpicturesphoto.com

The 35-year-old artist says she wants to bring art into everyday life, proving it exists in every household kitchen.
“This is very easy — I just take a knife and slice. One cut can turn into so many different things. In my view, this is very simple.” says Ju.
“The different types, shapes, and colors of the vegetables with a bit of rearranging can make for a rich source of imagery. Fresh, withered, rotting, dried, pickled, boiled, fried, they all come out different.”
“I no longer needed a model, as they all became actors and even props. As a director, I directed them to restage La Liberté Guidant le Peuple, and called it La Liberté Guidant les Légumes.”

The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Pickled Cabbage. Photo Paris-Beijing Gallery

Raft of the Lotus Roots. Photo Paris-Beijing Gallery

The Third of May 2008. Photo Paris-Beijing Gallery

“You wouldn’t know them any better if they were chopped into French fries and covered in ketchup, but when placed in the picture, they all appear unfamiliar and rich in facial expression.”
“On the ground lies the body of a winter melon soldier, with rotting ketchup flowing out of his body like blood. The battleground is strewn with rotting vegetable leaves. This great story of history, this world-famous painting, here becomes completely absurd.”

Pickled Cucumber on the Volga. Photo Paris-Beijing Gallery

Napoleon on Potatoes. Photo Paris-Beijing Gallery

The Kiss of the Radishes. Photo Paris-Beijing Gallery

These ’simple techniques’ pay Ju’s bills, as photos taken of the culinary masterpieces go for between $1,500 to $2,000 US each.
Her works which also include replicas of famous pieces such as Monet’s self-portrait and Leonardo’s Mona Lisa created with tofu are currently showcased at the Paris-Beijing Photo Gallery for ‘The Vegetable Museum’ exhibition.
Her organic version of Andy Warhol’s Marilyn Munroe fashioned from cabbage and a spring onion sold within a few hours of the exhibition’s launch to a foreign buyer, hungry for what could be called ‘crop art.’

Birthday of the Eggplants. Photo Paris-Beijing Gallery

Birth of the Gingerman. Photo Paris-Beijing Gallery

Scream of the Sweet Potatoes. Photo Paris-Beijing Gallery

“As a medium that decodes time, photography is my favorite.” Ju said. “Everything has a spirit, each vegetable, each person, and each second, under careful observation, has extraordinary meaning.”
“What makes me happy is that when I see Napoleon on his Potato, I can think back to when I fried him up and ate him at 2 in the morning in the summer of ’08. Through photographs, memory becomes sentiment.”

Picasso with Onions and Noodles. Photo Paris-Beijing Gallery

Death of the Cabbage Head. Photo Paris-Beijing Gallery

The Sleeping Taroman. Photo Paris-Beijing Gallery

Born in 1973 in Chongqing, Ju Duoqi graduated from The Sichuan Fine Arts College, and currently lives and works in Beijing.
The Paris-Beijing Photo Gallery’s exhibition of The Vegetable Museum by Ju Duoqi runs from November 23rd 2008 to January 24th 2009.

Ju Duoqi’s kitchen studio.

Ju Duoqi’s Vegetable Masterpieces